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Court of One Million Stars
'''Court of One Million Stars''' Stars and moon always shine directly over the lands of the Starry Court. Hidden away on the edge of the Shadow Realms bordering the Wylde Fey, stars gleam in all their glory. The smallest and most enigmatic of the fey gatherings, is the Court of One Million stars. Delicate spires of silver and pearl spiral up from great discs spun of dreamstuff and starlight. Clusters of these floating platforms and towers gather together, bound by gracefully arching bridges forged from moonbeams woven with silver. Prince Valendan, a noble selang wizard, rules over the Starry Court with an aloof manner and quiet wisdom. The Prince makes it a point to meet every visitor to the court at least once, though few receive a second audience. '''The Starry Court ''' The Starry Court serves as the heart of the Court of One Million Stars. The court consists of a magnificent spire of pearl and silver, spiraling like an immense unicorn’s horn from a central building, the court’s audience chamber. This seven-sided structure of pearly-white stone features seven gates, one on each of the building’s sides that lead into a great hall. Courtiers cluster around the wings of the chamber, with those of increasing station closer to the center. When present, Prince Valendan sits in the precise center, resting upon a tripod seat of silver and silk. The spire rising toward the stars houses the prince’s personal chambers, as well as those of his consorts and the other royal figures of the Starry Court. Balconies dot the outer surface of the spire, allowing a breathtaking view of both the stars and the surface of the Shadow Realm. A series of magnificent gardens surround the court, home to a wide array of plant life from the Shadow Realm’s surface, as well from Clayth. Walkways of crushed pearl trace paths through the central gardens and the seven outer gardens. Floating lanterns shining with pastel light illuminate the walkways, and each outer garden anchors a moonlight bridge leading to another section of the celestial courts. Notably, one of the bridges is blackened and shattered, ending a few yards from where it begins, destroyed long ago by magic of devastating power. Fey from all walks of life find their way to the Starry Court to further their study of illumination magic, the stars, and celestial movements. Dark pixie scholars can spend decades tracking the movement of a single star, meticulously recording every hint of prophecy in anticipation of a momentous event—the starfall. '''When the Stars Walk the World''' Many stars of Vir'Exalon''' '''are not just points of light burning in an uncaring sky. They are living things of terrible power and unfathomable knowledge. When momentous events shake the world, a star might deign to leave its bower of black velvet and fall to Vir'Exalon or to Shadow. When it lands, it becomes a creature of luminous beauty and impenetrable mystery. These celestial emissaries appear cloaked and hooded, shrouded in a luminous aura of starlight. They tend to be aloof, and on the rare occasions when they exchange words with a supplicant, understanding isn’t guaranteed. The emissaries speak in a strange manner, often reusing terms, but with vastly different contexts and meanings from one part of a statement to the next. Magic such as tongues and comprehend languages can help, but never provide a perfectly clear meaning. Even more unsettling, the Starry Courtiers believe that whenever a star falls to the world, it never leaves unaccompanied. Who or what vanishes when the celestial’s sojourn ends varies with each visit and isn’t always apparent. A starfall is a rare event, but at least one celestial emissary remains as a permanent fixture within the Court of One Million Stars: Cylentha the Silver Mistress. She descended from the night sky nearly 200 years ago and has yet to return home. The specific reason for her extended stay remains clouded, but many believe that she is searching for something. She serves as an adviser to the ruler of the Starry Court, who keeps her counsel quite private. Certain members of the Starry Court would offer a treasure trove of stardust diamonds and prophecies of future glory to understand why the celestial spends so much time at court. When Cylentha isn’t offering advice to the prince, she spends most of her time in a far-flung observatory. This unadorned platform holds no gardens or decorations of any kind. Seven blue-white balls of light, like miniature stars, surround the observatory, which appears as a rounded, curved building surmounted by a dome of iridescent pearl. Inside, the dome allows a perfect view of any star, every far-flung celestial cloud or nebula, and even into the blackest reaches of the overdark, perhaps even offering a glimpse into the Void. '''Whispers from the Void ''' The Starry Court reaches toward the stars, but that necessitates drawing close to the cold, vast emptiness between the heavenly lights. In that endless nothing, ancient things stir and whisper their secrets. A careless or foolish investigator can tap into those whispers and glean their secrets. Such knowledge comes at a price, however. The Void seeks to spread its influence like Shadow, but it has a more difficult time finding purchase in the world. Despite the Void’s destructive influence, Prince Valendan hasn’t forbidden study of its magic yet, though he takes an interest in anyone who seeks it. One of the more recent and momentous visitors to the Court of One Million Stars, the void dragon called Teiniath, appears as a creature from the cold dark beyond the coils of Veles. This hoary old wyrm has long drifted among the overdark, and like all of his ilk, he has seen far too much of it. The dragon’s mind has frayed and he has fled from his lair of Clayth, mortally wounded he was saved though he will not share by whom. He frequently travels to the Courts of Shadows as a Shadow Fey when he returns, he spends his time in isolation. Teiniath claimed an entire spire of the Starry Court when it arrived, and it rarely emerges from its commandeered lair. The spire, once magnificent, now crumbles and falls into decay as it goes by the new name of Voidreach. Teiniath entertains visitors from time to time, but the only guests who return are those captivated by the Void. Teiniath seems disturbingly willing to share the forbidden secrets of Void magic with those brave or unhinged enough to seek him out. Lady Cylentha makes occasional visits to the void dragon’s tower, and she investigates anyone else who speaks with the dragon. She is always polite in her way during such inquiries, but her manner suggests she won’t take no as an answer to her questions. The Silver Mistress has recently been leaving the courts and taking to the surface between her visits to the void dragon and the Prince. The only words she’s ever spoken publicly regarding her wanderings are maddeningly unhelpful: “The Void calls to the Void. It must not be allowed to answer.” '''The Spiral-Downs ''' While enclaves of the Court of One Million Stars dot the skies above the Shadow Realm, the largest concentration of starry courtiers live in a large complex of spires known as the Spiral-Downs. Connected to the Starry Court by a moon bridge, the Spiral-Downs consists of a series of interconnected platforms that hang in the sky. The platforms join one to the next by a series of moonlight bridge staircases, forming a spiral of ascending status and power. The lowest and largest platform houses the largest residential spires. It’s the least well adorned, and courtiers of the lowest station reside here. Each ascending platform is slightly smaller, more ornate, and has fewer residents than the platform below it. The residences spiral upward to the loftiest platform that boasts verdant gardens, ethereal music, delicate spires spun of starlight and dreams, and the elite of the Starry Court. Rising Above Attaining access to the Court of One Million Stars is no easy task. Unseen paths lead between the surface and the Starry Courts, paths nearly impossible to decipher without an invitation or a guide. Occasionally one of the enigmatic witchlights chooses to lead a pilgrim from Shadow up to the stars, following a trail of glittering illumination that somehow remains solid as they climb. Shadow fey illumination wizards speak in hushed tones of star-bridges that appear only in certain locations of the Shadow Realm and only during certain sidereal alignments. Rare glimpses of the stars through the gloomy Shadow sky can offer an illuminated mind enough insight to calculate where and when such a bridge will open next. Each path to the Court of One Million Stars ends at a gate house, where warriors of the court guard against hostile incursions from the surface. The most formidable of these, Vigil, stands unblinking watch over the only path leading from the surface to the Starry Court. Vigil appears as a hovering disc of tightly fitted tiles. A gate of spun silver, seemingly delicate but nearly indestructible, bars both the entrance from the surface and the bridge to the Starry Court. Twisted spires like horns defend the disc’s edge, and a bronze dome in the center provides shelter for the gate wardens. The gate wardens, the fiercest warriors among the court, closely vet any newcomers on the path for possible threats to the Starry Court and the prince. '''Archfey of the Court of One Million Stars''' Unlike their cousins in the Court of Dawn or The Court of Shadows, The Archfey of the Court of One Million Stars do not look to mortal agents to secure power in the Feywild or Vir'Exalon. The Court of One Million Stars looks to the sky and heavens above. So focused on their task of understanding the void beyond and the task of revealing prophecy that they simply ignore the machinations of the other Fey Lords. They will extend their courtesy to the nobles of the other Courts, but rarely do they take interest, unless they share a similar goal. Unlike the other Courts they also have a minimal amount of titles. Shadow Fey, being the nearest to mortal kind, bestow rank and privilege to many. The Courts of Dawn have far less, but Titania still rules the Inner Circle and the Archfey in her favor are granted titles. The Starry Court only has a handful of individuals and not all are powerful Archfey.'' ''To this day, no power has been shared not warlock pacted by members of this Court. * Prince Valendan, Speaker of the Sky * Cylentha the Silver Mistress, The Celestial Emissary * Verskas Bright Eye, Captain of the Spire Guard * Teiniath, The Fallen Oblivion, Breaker of Swords '''Points of Interest'''